by Pam Stucky
“But Zeus’s was an accident, wasn’t it?” said Lily, a sad look on her face showing she knew what answer was coming.
“We thought so,” said Megan. “But I think we’ll have to look into that again. In the book, there was the guy who died in the crash, and there was his friend, who owned the plane and let him fly it. Apparently there’s some sort of device that detects carbon monoxide. It’s not a built-in part of the plane. In the book, it’s just a little device called a ‘dead stop’ that you stick to the dash of the plane. If it goes dark, you know there’s carbon monoxide. It needs to be changed out every ninety days. And in the book, anyway, the guy who owned the plane had neglected to replace it. And as a result, his friend flew the plane, not knowing there was a carbon monoxide leak. He fell asleep from the carbon monoxide, and he crashed.”
She blanched, feeling nauseated again. Don’t think about it right now, she told herself. Later.
“So the plane Zeus died in was Kevin’s?” Owen said.
Megan shook her head. “No, but Kevin worked at the hangar, and he was in charge of maintenance of some of the planes. The plane Zeus flew was one that Kevin had hoped to buy one day. Its owner had lots of other planes and basically considered that one Kevin’s. He flew it all the time.”
“But even if that’s what happened, it was still an accident. Wasn’t it?” asked Owen.
Megan looked at Max. “I guess that’s what the police and the lawyers are going to have to figure out. As I understand it, involuntary manslaughter is, by definition, unintentional. But what matters is, he never said anything. And he felt guilty about it. And one day, he told Courtney the whole story.”
“Courtney was his girlfriend,” said Owen.
“Courtney was his girlfriend,” confirmed Megan. “Now, I’m speculating here but it seems that what happened next was that Courtney told Romy at some point. Maybe they were chatting one afternoon and got talking, and Romy, I mean, she drew stories out of you like she was spinning wool.” She shook her head. “So Courtney told Romy, and Romy wrote it into her next book. Kevin found out and got scared. He killed Romy. Then he put a virus on Romy’s computer, and killed Courtney and Emlyn to silence them.”
“Why did they have to be silenced?” asked Lily.
“They’re the ones who knew,” said Megan. “Emlyn had a copy of the manuscript, and she also had it on her computer. That’s why her laptop disappeared from her room. Kevin must have come up to get it. He was there in the library that day, and I didn’t even think anything of it. It was such a busy day. I saw Courtney coming down from upstairs, and I suspected her, but it never occurred to me that Kevin might be up to no good.”
“But how did he kill Courtney and Emlyn?” Owen asked. “Romy was drowned, but they were poisoned, weren’t they?” He looked to Rae, who nodded.
“Lily and I put together gift baskets for everyone staying in the library rooms. Just little things, soaps, tea, that kind of stuff. And Lily put in homemade lemon rosemary shortbread cookies.” She looked at Max. “You scared the bejeezus out of me when you tried to make me think Lily had poisoned them with her cookies!”
Max smiled broadly. “I did not try to make you think that. I was just doing my job.”
Megan shook her head indulgently. “Anyway. When the forensics team were taking the baskets out, I saw some biscuits in them that we hadn’t made. I remember noticing they had flecks of some sort of herb. I’m guessing now that they were baked with bits of English yew in them.”
“Does Kevin have an English yew plant?” said Lily.
“Does Kevin bake?” said Owen.
“He may not bake regularly, but anyone can make biscuits,” said Megan. “And I don’t know if he had an English yew tree, but there’s one in Addie Emerson’s memorial park. To celebrate the English part of her English–Scottish–Dutch heritage.”
“Ohhh,” said Lily. “Hmm. Is it that poisonous? How have we not had more poisonings?”
“I’m guessing the fence kept out some of the wildlife that might have otherwise eaten it,” said Megan, “and most humans who go in there aren’t eating it. Or using it on each other.”
“Good point,” said Lily.
“Okay,” said Owen. “So Kevin gave the biscuits to Emlyn? Why would she eat them? Did she know him?”
“She knew Courtney,” Megan said. “They were sorority sisters. Courtney probably introduced them at the party. Emlyn would have had no reason to suspect that Kevin would hurt either of them.”
“Do you think he meant to kill Courtney?” asked Lily. “Was that just an accident? I mean, she was his girlfriend.”
“People kill their significant others all the time,” said Max somberly.
“So how did I do, Max?” Megan said, looking at the deputy with a grin. “Did I get it all right?”
Max’s response was to mimic locking his lips and throwing away the key.
Rae bust out a guffaw. “You tease.” She looked at Megan. “Just before you got here, my friend on the force called. Kevin confessed. I think you got it pretty much right.”
Max rolled his eyes. “Your friend on the force should not be telling you so much!” But nonetheless, he was still smiling.
Rae simply shrugged and smiled.
“But wait,” said Owen. “The big checks. So Courtney didn’t kill Romy because she was embezzling money from her?”
Megan looked at Max, watching for a reaction. “My guess is that Courtney was embezzling money, and maybe lots of it, and maybe passing it along to more than one person, herself included. I remember thinking how nice her house and clothes were, and I don’t imagine Romy could have been paying her as much as all that upkeep would have taken. Still, I think that was just a coincidence. Am I right, Max?”
Max winked. “I can neither confirm nor deny,” he nodded.
“Well,” said Rae, “this calls for a celebration. Drinks are on me.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere!” said Lily.
Rae went to get beers for everyone. Max leaned over to Megan and handed her a paper bag.
Megan raised one eyebrow at him. “What’s this?” she said as she opened the bag. Inside was a pair of pink fuzzy handcuffs. She pulled them out, laughing. “Where on earth did you find these on such short notice?” she asked suspiciously.
“What can I say? I didn’t have any cling wrap,” he said with a wink.
SEVENTEEN
Lily, Owen, and Rae continued talking, recounting the details of the scandal, the excitement of catching a murderer making them almost breathless. Max indulged with a smile, occasionally relenting and tossing in a tidbit or fact. They put aside, for now, the fact that the murderer was someone they knew, one of their own.
It had been exhilarating, really, Megan thought, in a way. Catching Romy’s murderer.
What she hadn’t expected was that she would also open up an investigation about Zeus.
She needed to talk to Kevin. This is what it feels like to need closure, she thought.
Megan leaned over to Max and asked him quietly, “Where is he right now?”
Max’s eyebrows popped up. “Kevin?” he said, keeping his voice low to match Megan's. The others didn’t notice.
Megan nodded.
“You want to go see him?” Max said, a line of concern crossing his brow.
Megan nodded slowly. She saw Lily look at her out of the corner of her eye; aware of the situation, but giving Megan space. There would be many long talks with Lily after this, Megan knew. Many boxes of tissue and many bottles of wine. And many hours at her secret spot at the waterfalls, waiting for a peace that would be long in coming.
“You’re sure that’s a good idea?” Max asked. “Maybe wait a while?”
Megan drew a deep breath and shook her head.
Max studied her, looking deep into Megan's eyes in a way that felt almost invasive. Finally, he relented. “He’s at the county jail.” He paused. “Do you want me to go with you?”
Megan shook her head
. “I need to talk to him alone.”
“He doesn’t have to talk to you, you know,” Max said, his eyes still searching Megan's. “If he doesn’t want to.”
“I need to try,” Megan said. She slipped out of Rae’s without saying anything, leaving Max to explain to the others.
When Megan arrived at the jail forty-five minutes later, she learned that Max had called ahead. “Normally we wouldn’t let you in,” said the clerk, “but Deputy Coleman called and vouched for you. I’ll see if Kevin wants to come out. Fill this out,” she said, handing Megan a visitation form, and then she disappeared into a back office for a few minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, Megan had relinquished her purse and keys and was waiting for Kevin. She sat at a long, stark metal table, separated from the other side with thick plexiglass above the table, and metal below. The table was partitioned into several small cubicles along its length, with matching phones on each side within each cubicle. No one else was there.
A door opened on the other side, and a chill went through Megan as she saw Kevin walking into the room in his orange jail jumpsuit. She had half expected him to be in handcuffs, but his hands and feet were free.
Seeing her, Kevin sat in the seat opposite her.
Suddenly, she regretted coming here. She wasn’t ready. She didn’t know what she wanted to ask. She didn’t know what answers she needed.
They sat, silent, for a few minutes. Finally, Kevin picked up his phone. Gingerly, Megan did the same with the phone on her side, and held it to her ear.
“I’m sorry, Megan,” he said. His voice was echoey in the receiver, though he was just a few feet away from her.
Megan felt a tingling in her neck as the tears threatened her eyes. She willed herself not to cry. Not yet.
“Why?” was all she managed to say before her emotions choked her words.
Kevin ran a hand through his buzz cut. “I just … I got scared.”
“You were negligent in Zeus’s death. But you could have come forward. You didn’t have to do … all this.” Megan said, pushing the tears back again. She inhaled slowly. You’re here, Megan, she said to herself. What do you need to know? She realized she wasn’t ready to talk much about Zeus yet. That could come later. But Romy. What had happened? “Why Romy?” she said.
Kevin shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “I freaked out. After the party, Courtney, Romy, and I were sitting in Romy’s living room. Romy started telling Courtney about how she’d been talking with you and you’d told her how Zeus died, and it sounded so much like the story Courtney had told her a year ago. She said her latest book was inspired by that story, and what a funny coincidence that was.” He rubbed his hand on his neck. “Courtney never told me she’d said anything to anyone. I told her about the dead stop because I was scared. I didn’t think she’d tell anyone. But it turns out she told Romy about it right away. Didn’t name names. Just laid it out like an interesting story. Romy took it and ran.” He cradled the phone against his neck and started rubbing his hands together, rhythmically turning his left thumb over his right thumb, right thumb over left. “I got scared. She was going to publish that book and everyone would know. I drove Courtney home, then went back to Romy’s. I’d only meant to talk to her, beg her not to publish the book, but …” He turned his gaze to the high windows on the wall behind Megan, the sun filtering in like a verdict.
“You drowned her,” Megan said.
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “Just … held her down. She was drunk. She wasn’t that strong.”
It was such a thoughtless thing to say. Megan suddenly felt the rage rising inside her, but she pushed it back down.
“Emlyn?” she said. “Why Emlyn? How?”
He shrugged. “She had the printout. I’d slipped in and put a virus on Romy’s computer the next morning, before Courtney found her, but I didn’t know Emlyn had the manuscript. I knew that yew in the park was deadly. I got some, baked some biscuits. I took them up to her and she didn’t question it. Just … ate them.”
“And Courtney?” said Megan.
He seemed to shrivel into half the man he’d once been, slumping in his chair. “She knew everything,” he said. He watched his thumbs, passing one over the other, like there was nothing else in the world to watch.
Maybe, thought Megan, he would have nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs for a very long while.
“The ladder? My balcony?” she said.
“I saw Romy’s sister give you the manuscript,” he said. “But your deck door was locked.”
Megan felt a rush of gratitude that she’d remembered to lock the balcony door, at least that once. “So how did you get in?” she said.
“Downstairs,” he said. “Through the garage,” he said. “I unlocked it earlier in the day, when I took the biscuits to Emlyn. You took that guy on a tour of the place and didn’t even notice me. After that, it was easy.”
Exhaustion swept over Megan. She had nothing more to say. Without saying goodbye, she stood, hung up the phone, and left.
* * *
When Megan got back to the library, Sylvie and Wade were loading up their rental car.
“Oh, I’m so glad we saw you before we left,” Sylvie said. “Can you send me Romy’s manuscript once the police are done with it?” Max had told them that the police had to keep it, for the time being, as evidence.
“Of course,” said Megan. “I’m so sorry for everything you’ve gone through. This all must be unbearable.”
Sylvie reached out and put a hand on Megan's forearm. “Max told me about your fiancé. His plane crash. I’m sorry for you, too. Kevin hurt a lot of people here.”
A sting of sadness came to the back of Megan's throat and to her eyes. Not yet! she told herself. “He did. But even so, I hope you’ll come back again,” she said.
“We need to take care of lots of loose ends,” said Sylvie. “You’ll see us again.”
Wade slammed the trunk of the car. “Hopefully it’ll be less eventful next time,” he said.
Megan could see bruises at his neck, above the collar of his shirt, and one on the right side of his face. She winced. “I hope you heal quickly,” she said.
Wade held out his hand. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for coming out to save me last night,” he laughed. “You should have seen the look in your eyes with that table in your hands. You’re a bit of a warrior, I’d say.”
Megan waved off his hand and pulled him in for a light hug, wary of his bruises. “Take care, Wade,” she said. She turned and gave Sylvie a hug as well.
“We left you something,” Sylvie said. “Inside our room. We wanted to wait to give it to you, ourselves, but … it’s time to go.”
As they drove away, Megan saw another car headed down the long driveway to the library. The driver pulled up slowly alongside Megan, and parked.
“Hey, Edison,” said Megan as the library benefactor climbed out of the car.
“Hey, yourself, detective.” He looked her up and down. “You look beat.”
Megan laughed. “Thanks. I am beat.”
“I should think so,” said Edison. “I heard all about it.”
Megan shook her head. “Word travels fast. So what can I do for you today?” she said. She started walking around back to the living quarters entrance, and Edison followed.
“I figured we should talk about what you need to feel safe here,” Edison said. “Not just a new washer and dryer for the guests. But maybe,” he looked up at what had once been his house. “Maybe if we’re going to expect you to live here, and put up guests, maybe we should put in a little more security for you. Or at least talk about it. I came to look the library over and see what needs to be done.”
“Can the library afford that?” Megan said. She knew funds were tight.
“It’s on me,” said Edison. “I want you always to feel safe.”
She looked him over. She’d never really thought of him as a peer, somehow. Always she’d seen Edison Finley Wright as a member of some local
aristocracy. Someone who would never run in the same circles as the likes of Megan Montaigne. But after all she’d been through, after all she’d learned, she found herself wanting to get to know this person more. “Thank you, Edison,” she said. “Thank you.”
They headed up the elevator, and Edison went off to scrutinize the building while Megan went back to her home. She walked out on the balcony and sat for a while, staring at nothing, watching the river go by.
Suddenly, overhead, she heard the high-pitched chirp of a bald eagle. She looked up. A lone eagle was floating on the wind currents, high in the sky, flying in wide circles directly over the library. Megan watched as it stayed for many long minutes, soaring in circles ever farther away, until finally it was out of sight.
“I won’t forget you,” she said to the eagle as it disappeared.
* * *
After a while, Edison left with promises to return soon. Shortly after that, Megan felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. A text from a number she didn’t recognize. “This is Gus,” the text began. “I’ve heard the news. I’m sorry. This has to be devastating. If you need to talk, I can listen.”
Megan smiled and put her phone away without replying.
She’d just started thinking about the prospect of cleaning up Sylvie and Wade’s room, when she remembered that Sylvie had told her they’d left something for her. Curiosity building, she headed into their room.
They’d left the room very tidy, of course, and the bed was made to hospital perfection. On it lay dozens and dozens of books, a few with ancient dust jackets, the rest with worn blue cloth covers. Nancy Drew.
